Combination cushion and pneumatic boot or shoe heel



Patented Nov. 29, I898.

c. a. HAINLINE. v COMBINATION CUSHION 'AND PNEUMATIC BOOT OR SHOE HEEL.

(Appliaation filed Nov. 27. 1897.)

(No Model.)

THE NORRIS PEvEas cuJHOroL mm. WASHINGTDN, n. cy

UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

CHARLES GRANT I-IAINLINE, OF ANDERSON, CALIFORNIA.

COMBINATION CUSHION AND PNEUMATIC BOOT OR SHOE HEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 615,167, dated November 29, 1898. Application filed November 27, 1897. Serial No. 659,961. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES GRANT HAIN- LINE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Anderson, county of Shasta, State of California, have invented an Improvement in a Combination Cushion and Pneumatic Boot or Shoe Heel; and I'hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in boots and shoes.

It consistsin details of construction, which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a section through the heel. Fig. 2 is a bottom View of the same. h

The object of my invention is to combine the elasticity of a rubber or other elastic heel for boots and shoes with the additional elastic support provided by a body of air contained in a suitably-closed cavity within said heel.

A represents the heel of my construction. This heel is provided around the lower periphery with a channel or offset, leaving the central portion A of the heel projecting and forming a surface adapted to rest upon the ground when the boot or shoe is in use. The narrow channel or offset provides for the nails which are used to secure the heel to the sole of the shoe and to prevent these nails from coming in contact with the ground so as to be worn off and also to leave the central portion capable of exerting its full elasticity. This groove or channel may be undercut at the front and sides of the heel, if desired; but in the drawings the undercut is shown only at the front, where the vertical side is shown as being slightly beveled outward, so as to provide nearly the full length of the heel resting upon the ground.

The top of the heel has formed within it a chamber or depression D of sufficient size to form an air-containing chamber when the heel is in place upon the sole of the shoe. Around the periphery of this chamber on the top is a ledge which is of sufficient width to provide the necessary surface whereby the heel A may be cemented to the bottom of the shoe-sole, and, if found desirable, this sole may be coated with a rubber cement, or so surfaced as to make it impermeable to air. The heel is then cemented directly upon the sole, and the nails are afterward driven into the groove around the exterior of the heel, thus securing it firmly to the sole. This incloses a body of air in the chamber which will serve as a cushion, so that the pressure of the rounded part of the heel of the wearer upon the sole will always produce an independent elastic eifect by reason of the air compressed within this chamber. In addition to this the lower part of the heel being itself elastic makes an independent cushion upon the ground. By this combination I produce an elasticity in the heel and its support for the foot, making it much easier for the wearer while standing, relieving the jar of the body produced in walking over hard surfaces, and it also prevents the tendency of the shoe to slip forward when the foot is placed upon a slippery surface.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A heel for a boot or shoe formed of elastic material and having a channel or offset surrounding its lower periphery, the portion of the heel interior to said channel or offset projecting below the plane thereof and adapted to contact with the ground.

2. A heel for boots and shoes composed of rubber, an open-topped chamber formed in the upper part of said heel having a peripheral margin adapted to be cemented directly upon the sole of the shoe whereby a body of air is hermetically sealed within said chamher to form an independent elastic cushion, a groove or channel made around the outer periphery of the heel and nails driven through said channel to secure the heel leaving a central projecting elastic surface of contact with the ground, interior to the line of nails.

3. A heel for a boot or shoe formed of rubber having an air-chamber in its top and having the central portion of its under surface of less diameter than the body to form an elastic tread and a surrounding offset said offset adapted to receive the securing nails or fastenings.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

CHARLES GRANT IIAINLINE.

Witnesses:

T. W. H. SHANAHAN, JAMES F. BEDFORD. 

